This invention relates generally to an apparatus for supporting and displaying objects, and more particularly to structures mountable on a supporting surface and suitable for supporting and displaying planar objects including printed media, such as paint color cards used in the sale of paints.
In the marketing of paint it is desirable to provide paint color cards, or “paint chips”, to prospective paint customers for demonstrating colors and surface finishes corresponding to the effects obtained by using the different colors and types of paint being marketed. Such paint chips can be typically characterized as small pieces of heavy paper or cardboard having a finish on a surface corresponding to at least one paint color and finish intended to be represented.
Display of such paint chips typically involves the use of suitable stands or display devices permitting the customer to select one or more paint chips representative of paint colors and finishes for purchase. Paint chips are typically displayed in close proximity to each other, in a stacked manner, to allow the prospective paint customer to concurrently compare various colors and finishes of the varying paints, while simultaneously being able to remove a paint chip revealing another paint chip representative of the same color and finish as represented by the removed paint chip. Such display devices incorporate supports or pockets that are supported on a mounting panel. The pockets are adapted to hold a plurality of paint chips, which may be removed by the prospective customers.
There is a need for a paint chip support for use in conjunction with a display device in which the vertical and horizontal spacing of columns and rows is customizable, with provision for adjustment to accommodate paint chips of different sizes to be displayed simultaneously. Ideally, the paint chip supports should be configured to facilitate installation without need for tools or removal of paint chips from the display. It would be desirable that the new paint chip supports could be installed in a cascading or side-by-side arrangement in order to vary the visual effect and density of pockets on the supporting surface of the display device.